The failed terror attacks in Glasgow and London should not be used to justify detaining terror suspects for 90 days, Scotland's first minister said today.

Alex Salmond said there was nothing in the current investigation that supported arguments that the law should be changed from 28 to 90 days' detention for terror suspects.

Last month, before he became prime minister, it was reported that Gordon Brown wanted to increase the detention period to 90 days, although he said yesterday that now was not the time to focus on the issue and that a consensus needed to be built.

Tony Blair persistently argued for the toughened detention laws despite suffering his first House of Commons defeat on the issue in November 2005, which prompted calls for him to resign.

Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, had asked Mr Blair for longer detention periods to gather evidence, arguing that tasks such as retrieving information from suspects' computers could take a long time.

However, Mr Brown's spokesman said today he did not think now was the right time "for rushing into new legislation at the moment".

"The prime minister is determined to ensure that every action is taken to protect the public, but we are equally determined that while dealing with all those issues we must not be deflected from the main business of government," the spokesman added.

Mr Brown will have talks at Downing Street today with MPs whose constituencies are affected by the Glasgow attack, as well as the Scotland secretary, Des Browne, and the transport secretary, Ruth Kelly. Asked about the detention laws today on BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Salmond, who has previously voiced doubts over the government's tough terror legislation, said: "We have not been persuaded about the necessity for that, as indeed other parties haven't."

He said it was "far too early" to draw conclusions from the Glasgow incident, but added: "Obviously if new information comes forward then I'm sure all political parties would want to look at it, but currently we are not persuaded."

Mr Salmond was a persistent critic of Mr Blair's view of terrorism in the UK, attacking his arguments that the Iraq invasion was not a factor in the July 7 2005 attacks in London.

But Mr Salmon said today: "We should currently emphasise the united determination across all the political parties to stand together against terrorism." He said life was getting back to normal in Scotland.

Meanwhile, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, chief constable Colin McKerracher of Grampian police, said he was confident police had "everything we need" in the current investigation in terms of terror legislation. However, he added that he expected Scottish police to be temporarily granted extra stop-and-search powers by the Home Office in the wake of the Glasgow incident.

Mr McKerracher said the powers had been applied for on Saturday after the car bomb attempt. Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow today, he urged the public to be tolerant of extra security measures being brought in to protect Scotland.

He said: "We have applied for the authorisation to utilise stop-and-search and that is across every community in Scotland. That will be done sensitively and in situations where officers on the ground feel that is appropriate. Those powers were sought two days ago and that gives us an immediate 48 hours authorisation and then they will be confirmed by the home secretary."

At the weekend, Mr Salmond had insisted that sufficient preparations had been made to deal with a terrorist attack in Scotland.

On Saturday, two men were arrested after a blazing jeep was driven at Glasgow airport's main terminal. Police have linked the incident with the discovery of two car bombs in London in the early hours of Friday. Reports today claimed that police investigating the London car bombs had linked the case to Glasgow the day before the attack on the city's airport.

Five people have been arrested in the terror investigation, and police are believed to be chasing at least one more person linked to the attacks. The UK's security level remains at "critical", the highest level.

The US president, George Bush, yesterday praised Mr Brown's "strong response" to the attacks.

He said: "It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on. You never know where they may try to strike, and I appreciate the very strong response that the Gordon Brown government has given to the attempts by these people."